Justice (NYSM)
by kamuisensei0
Summary: (Now You See Me FF) Nikole Rivera is a simple girl from Florida, making a living from street magic and a part-time job. However, on one fateful day, she receives a tarot card. Justice. Now, she's apart of something bigger than she's ever seen before. The Eye. The Five Horsemen. So, look closely and see what happens.
1. Chapter 1

Come in close.

Closer.

Because the more you think you see,

The easier it will be to fool you.

Because, what is seeing?

You're looking,

But what you're really doing is filtering.

Interpreting.

Searching for meaning.

My job?

To take that most precious of gifts you give me,

Your attention,

And use it against you.

 **Chicago**

 _Monday_

A young man by the name of J. Daniel Atlas was surrounded by a crowd of people. They were all eagerly watching as he prepared to perform his next magic trick. He held out a deck of cards, looking into the eyes of an attractive young lady, "I'm going to flip through this deck, and I want you to see one card. Oh, not this one, that's too obvious."

He flipped through the cards, "That was too fast. I'll do it again. Are you ready?"

The girl nodded with a smile. Daniel slowly flipped through the cards again, "Did you see one?"

The girl responded, still looking into his eyes, "Yes."

Daniel fanned out the cards in front of her, "Now, do you see your card here?"

She looked at the deck in confusion, "No."

"That's because you're looking too closely. And what have I been telling you all night? The closer you look..."

The crowd finished his sentence in sync, "The less you see!"

Daniel threw the cards into the air, drawing the crowd's attention to the tall building behind him, where the card in the girl's mind lit up. Cheers erupted into the crowd and a hooded figure watched silently before leaving.

 **New Orleans**

 _Tuesday_

An older man named Merritt McKinney stood in front of a married couple, speaking to the wife, "Now, look into my eyes." He grabbed onto her as she fell forward, "And sleep. Ok."

He whispered a few commands into her ears before standing her upright and snapping his fingers. The lady awoke and Merritt held up a $20 bill, "If you can get this bill from me, you can have it."

The lady tried, but realized her hands were stuck together and she was rooted to the spot. "Well? Ok, if you can say your name, you can have it."

The lady tried to speak, but couldn't surprising her and making her laugh.

"Alright, just hang out there while I take a peek at your husband over here."

Her husband tried to object, but Merritt spoke before he could, "Now, i'm picturing, don't tell me. A beach, cocktails, Florida?"

The husband tried to make an excuse, "Look, it was a business trip."

Merritt interrupted, "Well it is a kind of business, maybe the oldest business."

The husband was starting to feel nervous, "You know what, uh, maybe we should-"

Merritt brought his attention back to him, "She can't move. You're thinking of a woman's name. A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J- Jean, Jane, Janet. Who- who's Janet?"

Merritt looked towards the lady he had hypnotized, "Do you know a Janet?"

She nodded.

"She's not your best friend, is she?"

The woman spoke through her tongue.

"Your sister? Oh my god. You weren't away on business, you were away on Janet!"

The woman attempted to hit her husband with her interlocked hands and Merritt pulled the man aside, "We need to move over here because it seems like she's a little bit upset right now. You want this to go away?"

The man nodded, "Yes."

Merritt held out a hand, "Ok, pull out your wallet."

The man huffed and pulled it out, "Do you shake down everybody like this?"

"No, only the special few. What is this? $200 seem fair? You know what, this is a big deal. Let's go $250."

Merritt made his way back over to the wife, "Ok, and sleep. Now, when I snap my fingers, you won't remember any of this. And you, everytime you see or even think of Janet, you're going to picture me naked, and that's not a pretty sight. And...wide awake!"

The wife suddenly woke up with a smile.

"Well, we did the best we could, but some people just aren't to be hypnotized."

The wife seemed a bit disappointed, "Oh, I did it wrong?"

Merritt shook his head as her husband led her away, "No, you did fine."

A hooded man observed from the background before leaving.

 **New York**  
 _Wednesday_

A young man named Jack Wilder stood on a boat, trying to get the attention of everyone on board, "Ladies and gentlemen! I am the next great magician and I will give $100 to anyone who can tell me how this trick is done."

Jack pulled out a spoon as everyone turned to look, "I have an ordinary spoon from Mel's Deli, right here in Brooklyn. Check it out."

He tapped the spoon on the railing to demonstrate. "Now everyone, please pay very close attention, because i'm about to bend this spoon with my mind."

He focused on the spoon and it slowly bent, leaving the spectators in awe. One man came forward with a smug smile and pulled a spoon from the magician's pocket and sleeve, "What's this? We've got a spoon and a stem!"

"Look, i've got other tricks."

"Or you could just give me my 100 bucks."

Jack pulled out his wallet and handed the man $100, "You have a very good eye, sir."

Jack walked down the steps to the lower deck, bumping into a hooded man on his way past. The man who had revealed his trick patted himself down, realizing that Jack had stolen his watch and wallet. He ran to the railings just as Jack exited the boat, "Stop that guy in the leather jacket! He's got my wallet!"

Jack ran off after that.

 **Los Angeles**

 _Thursday_

An attractive young lady by the name of Henley Reeves was making her way onto a high platform, cheers coming from the audience with every step. She stripped off her blazers, "Ok Los Angeles! Are we ready to end this thing?! When that timer hits 0, a tank full of flesh-eating piranhas will fall from above!"

Two of her assistants came up and placed chains on her ankles and wrists.

"A lady has to have handcuffs, right girls?"

A countdown began and as they hit 3, Henley's pants were ripped off to reveal shorts underneath. She was dropped into the tank of water with the task of escaping. She managed to take the chains off from her wrists, waving at the crowd once they were freed.

However, once she got to her feet, she couldn't unchain herself. The crowd started panicking and a man went to the back, picking up a pole and attempting to break the glass. Meanwhile, Henley was screaming for help as the timer continued to tick down.

The timer hit 0, and the piranhas were released into the tank. They chewed into her skin and a pool of red clouded the entire tank. The audience fell silent until a voice rang out from the center of the crowd, "Come on! This is bullshit! Whoever thought of this is a sick sadist!"

The crowd realized that it was Henley and cheered, giving her high fives and quickly forgetting about the cruel trick.

A hooded figure was in the background, soon leaving.

 **Orlando**

 _Thursday_

A girl, Nikole Rivera, was pacing in front of a crowd of passersby, announcing her final trick of the evening, "And now, I will need one volunteer from the audience!"

Hands raised throughout the audience. Nikole pointed towards a blonde woman in the front of the crowd, "You, please come up!"

The lady came up and smiled. Nikole put a hand on her shoulder, "Now, what's your name?"

"Alexa."

Nikole nodded, "Alright Alexa, now I want you to pick a card."

Nikole fanned out a deck for her and Alexa picked one.

"Alright, now sign the face of the card."

Alexa took out a pen and wrote her name on the card, a 3 of spades.

Nikole turned around and reached into her duffel bag, pulling out a sword, "Now don't worry, Alexa will be nowhere near this dangerous beauty!"

Nikole took the deck from Alexa and asked her to move back. Nikole shuffled the cards before placing them into the palm of her hand, with the sword in her other hand, she carefully slid the sword between the cards and her hand, "Alright, now watch carefully!"

Nikole threw up the cards and quickly swung the sword through the air, impaling one of the cards. Nikole took the card off of the sword and showed it to the crowd, revealing that it was the card with Alexa's name on it.

The crowd clapped their hands and cheered loudly.

A hooded man left the scene unnoticed.

 **Back with Daniel**

Daniel and the girl from before stumble into his room. "I am your biggest fan."

Daniel replies sarcastically, "I can tell by the way you're attacking my face right now."

He quickly closes the door and the girl takes off her clothes and pushes him onto the couch. Daniel seems surprised, but doesn't reject the actions. The girl leans up and places a finger onto his lips, "Wait. How did you do that-"

"The 7 of diamonds on the side of the tower? That's a trade secret."

The girl pushes him back down and Daniel complies, "I'll give you a hint. It involved bribing the tower electrician."

"How much?"

"50 bucks."

"Wow. Is it always a 7?"

Daniel pushed onto his elbows, "I can do that trick about 52 different ways."

The girl smiled seductively, "Can you do 52 different tricks on me?"

Daniel smirked, "I'll see what I can do."

They were about to continue when Daniel spotted a card sticking out of his shoe. He pushed the girl off of him, "You need to leave."

The girl glared at him as he ignored her. She quickly put her clothes on and stormed out, cursing at him.

Daniel continued to ignore her and picked up the card, it was a tarot card. The Lovers. On the back, there was an eye, with information printed onto the back.

 **Back with Jack**

Jack was standing at the shoreline with his hands in his pockets. He pulled out the stolen wallet and took out the money before throwing the wallet into the ocean. He put the money into his pocket when he felt something that wasn't there before and pulled it out. It was a tarot card. Death. On the back of the tarot card was an eye with information printed just underneath laughed slightly, curious as to what it meant.

 **Back with Merritt**

Merritt was packing up his equipment when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. It was a tarot card. The Hermit. On the back of the card, there was an eye as well as information. He was confused, wondering who could have put it there without him noticing.

 **Back with Henley**

The show room was silent, the crowd had left the room long ago, but Henley was still there. She walked back into the center of the room, near the piranha tank. She stopped abruptly when she saw something floating in the water. A tarot card. The High Priestess. A piranha bumped into the card, revealing the back. An eye with information printed beneath it.

 **Back with Nikole**

Nikole packed everything up into her duffel bag. As she reached in to put the last thing away, she noticed a tarot card sitting right on top of her sword. Justice. Nikole picked it up and turned it over. Her eyes widened, excitement running through her. There was an eye. Beneath it was information printed in white letters...

 _March 29_

 _4:44 PM_

 _45 East Evan St_

 _NY, NY_


	2. Chapter 2

**March 29**

 **4:28 PM**

 **NY, NY**

Nikole's P.O.V.

I walked down the streets of New York, having just set all of my luggage in my hotel room after the long flight. I looked over the tarot card a few times more to make sure I knew where I was going, checking the time on my phone every 10 seconds as if being late was going to somehow end my life. I had time to spare, but that didn't stop me from worrying. I liked to be punctual, perhaps it's because I had slept through two job interviews before. I stopped at a crosswalk, confused. I looked up to see a man across the street and ran over, "Excuse me, sir!"

The man turned and rose a brow at my ruffled appearance, "Can I help you?"

I took a moment to catch my breath before smiling nervously, "Yeah, actually. Do you happen to know where I can find this address?"

I showed him the information on the back of my tarot card and his eyes widened. He pulled an almost identical card out of his pocket and showed it to me. I gawked at it before laughing, "Wow, what a coincidence! My name's Nikole Rivera."

I held out a hand which he shook, "J. Daniel Atlas."

I retracted my hand and laughed again, "Well then, J. Daniel Atlas, you mind showing me where we're going?"

Daniel nodded, "Yeah."

 **4:35 PM**

Daniel had apparently called a taxi before my arrival and had allowed me to ride with him. Once we got there, Daniel stepped out of the taxi and stopped a woman right in front of us, "Hey, Henley."

Henley smiled a bit, although I could tell it was sort of forced, "Danny? Hey."

I stepped out, pushing him aside so I could close the door.

"So, you got a card."

Henley raised up her hand, which held a coffee cup and a tarot card. Danny seemed a bit flustered at Henley's sudden appearance, "Oh, uh, that's good for you. Congratulations."

I raised my hand and waved, finally bringing Henley's attention to me "Hello Henley, my name is Nikole. I, um, also got a card."

Henley smiled, "Nice to meet you. Do you know Danny?"

I shook my head, "Nope, we just met about 7 minutes ago. I was pretty much lost."

Danny looked between us before walked forward and patting Henley's shoulder, "Alright, i'll tell you what we're gonna do. I'm gonna go inside and scope the place out. You two wait out here, and i'll come back to get you."

Henley and I shared a look of exasperation before Henley walked ahead of Daniel and gave him a nasty look, "Hey Danny, i'm not your assistant anymore, and from what I can tell, Nikole isn't either."

I stifled a laugh and followed the two inside, before quickly addressing Henley, "Please, call me Nikki. I prefer it."

'They would make a good couple.'

Henley smiled as she looked back at me. 'I have a feeling that she and I will be good friends.'

Danny stumbled over his words, obviously uncomfortable with Henley's presence, "So, um, what exactly have you been up to?"

Henley laughed as if Danny had said the most stupid thing in the world, "You know exactly what i've been up to. I saw all your anonymous postings on my website."

I let out a silent wow. 'Man, this guy is controlling. He also has the potential to be a stalker. What luck I have.'

Danny tried to cover up, "Oh, you have a website? Good for you. Get the word out."

We all stopped, seeing a man standing in front of the door. He looked shocked at our sudden appearance.

"Okay, so apparently none of us was the only one chosen. Let me be the first one to kick my ego to the curb."

Danny waved him off, "Excuse me."

The man moved aside, "The door's locked."

Danny ignored him, "Is it? I'll check."

Henley and I stayed behind and the man walked up to us, looking first at Henley, "You...uh, now don't tell me. Uhh...Helen? No, Henley?"

Danny turned around, "It's on your coffee cup."

I laughed and the man rolled his eyes at Danny, "Thanks for keeping me honest. That wasn't mentalism, by the way. It was just an observation. Second observation, you are beautiful, both of you."

Henley and I spoke in sync, "Thank you."

We looked at each other before laughing. Danny walked around the man to look at him. He obviously wasn't impressed by the man's flirting, "Alright, that's good. That's very nice. Very well polished. Uh, J. Daniel Atlas. Nice to meet you."

The man was about to shake Daniel's hand before pulling it up to flip him the bird.

Daniel laughed bitterly, "Very nice. I know who you are, and I just want to say that i'm not interested in you doing your mentalism thing. Especially since we don't know who brought us here, or even if it's real."

The man raised up a hand and shushed Danny, "Hold on. I'm sensing that you are a control freak."

I bent over with a hand over my mouth, trying hard not to laugh. Henley looked at my hunched over form with amusement.

"I'm sorry, have we met before?"

Henley stepped forward, "It doesn't take a mentalist to figure it out. You are a control freak."

I raised a hand, "Yeah, i'm not a mentalist and even I could tell that much."

Henley pointed at me while looking at Danny, "See?"

Danny rolled his eyes at the both of us, "I take that as a compliment."

Henley rolled her eyes at him, "Only you would take it as a compliment."

"Oh, great. Another compliment."

The still unnamed man interrupted, "Ok. So, that's why you're no longer a couple then?"

They both began denying it. Henley spoke up first, "We were never a couple. He used to saw me in half."

Danny looked at her, "She was a very good assistant."

"Yeah, but I was too fat for Danny."

I walked forward to stand besides the man, "Wow. That's rude."

Danny began denying the statement, "No. I said that one time because of the trap door."

Henley used her hands to demonstrate, "You built it this size. No one could fit through there. No one."

"Rebecca fit through. Rebecca fit for years."

I was starting to get tired of the argument. Watching two people banter about things that happened in the past wasn't really my thing.

Henley sounded even more irritated, "Do you know how hard it is to stay in those tiny little costumes?"

Danny raised a brow, "Uhh, no. I'm the main attraction."

My jaw dropped at his ever rising ego. 'This guy is such a dick!'

The man next to me looked at Henley, "Ok so, he never made you feel special, and trust me, you deserve to be made to feel special."

I almost decided to thank God when I saw someone else coming up the stairs. The newcomer looked at Danny with admiration and I immediately deflated. He was obviously a fan.

"No way. J. Daniel Atlas. Dude, i've seen everything that you have ever done. You're like...I idolize you."

I groaned hearing the ego boost in Danny's voice, "Wow. A true fan, it's nice to meet you."

'Boy, you are so lucky that you're attractive, otherwise I would've admitted you to a psych ward the moment you opened your mouth.'

The boy smiled, still starstruck by Danny, "I'm Jack, by the way."

The man next to me raised up his tarot card, "Question, did you get one of these?"

Jack dug through his pocket, "Yeah."

He pulled out a tarot card, "Uh, Death."

Henley raised up hers, "The High Priestess."

I took out my card, "Justice."

Danny raised his, "The Lovers."

Henley coughed out, "3 minutes."

"The Hermit."

Jack smiled, "So, what are we doing? Are we waiting for someone?"

The four of us spoke in sync, "The door's locked."

Jack shook his head and walked to the door, "No. Nothing's ever locked."

Jack crouched down and picked the door, pushing it open once he was finished.

I gave him a quick pat on the shoulder and threw him a sweet smile, "Man, that's some skill you've got."

Jack smiled at the compliment before we all walked in, Henley and Danny using their phones as flashlights. We began looking around. I was disgusted by the sight of the place, "What the hell? Couldn't the person behind this have picked out a cleaner meeting place?"

Jack laughed at me and the others seemed amused, "Are you some sort of clean freak?"

I shrugged with a small blush, "Might as well be."

We all walked into the main room, which was completely bare except for a note, a vase, a flower, and a symbol etched into the floor, "What's all this?"

Danny walked forward to pick up the note, "I don't know."

The man, who I now know as Merritt Mckinney spoke up from behind us, "What's it say?"

Danny read the note out loud, "Now you don't."

I crossed my arms as I looked over Danny's shoulder to see the note, "What does that even mean?"

Henley picked up the rose and placed it into the vase while reciting a line from 'Romeo and Juliet', "A rose by any other name."

We all noticed that water had begun seeping out of the uncracked vase as soon as Henley placed the rose in it. I stepped out of the water's path and it began filling up the symbol in the floor before emitting a fog.

Everyone stepped back and Jack called out worriedly, "It's gas."

Merritt held up his hands, "Relax, it's just dry ice."

Henley looked at the fog, "Cool." I nodded in agreement and stood next to her.

Danny looked up, "Wait, what do you think this is all about?"

Merritt raised his hand to his head, "Hang on...I got nothing."

I laughed quietly and Danny glared at him, "Ok, thank you. Thank you for the delay."

"I was just trying to create the space for wisdom."

Danny nodded, "Oh, so you're like Buddha. If he wasn't so enlightened."

Merritt shot back, "And you're like Jesus, if he was arrogant and all of his miracles were fake."

I held up my hands, "Ok lovebirds, calm your tits. Let's bring the focus back onto the mysterious shit going on in the room."

Henley looked over to Danny, "Danny be honest, did you do this?"

Danny shook his head and looked at Jack, "No. Did you?"

Jack responded, "I wish."

Merritt turned around, "Why didn't anyone ask me why I did it?"

No one responded.

"Oh great."

I gave Merritt a pat on the shoulder, "Don't worry, they didn't ask me either."

Jack looked around, making a quick observation as Danny played with the light switch, "The electricity's out."

Merritt went over to the chandelier in the corner of the room, "Let's check."

He tightened the light bulb and a blue light shone from the door and various other angles in the room. I covered my eyes from the sudden brightness, "Whoa."

Henley exclaimed in awe, "Blueprints."

I nodded, entranced by the complex details shown to us by the lights, "Yeah. Looks like it."

Jack smiled excitedly, "Who do you think did this?"

Henley continued to observe the blueprints, "I don't know, but I really want to meet them. It's a show."

Danny reached out to one thing in particular, a symbol. The same one that had been etched into the floor.

I looked around at everyone, "We've got work to do. You guys in?"

Merritt looked at me and nodded. Danny was too busy analyzing the blueprints, so I took it as a yes. Henley excitedly nodded. Jack nodded, "Hell yeah."

I smirked, "Alright then. Let's get started!"


	3. Chapter 3

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p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="da8e2bc4a9b2710a00e58a6127a80965" "Merritt McKinney!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="87be96dc1ca889c703db9aaa61aa40a6" "Daniel Atlas!"/p  
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p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="0e5689a228d195bf3ff31139daa09ab3" "Henley Reeves!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="0003e7728d0e4c552af6bb3c701fe8cc" "Jack Wilder!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="e4e174597d775ca2d21da0ba61233f86" "Arthur Tressler and the MGM Grand proudly present...The Five Horsemen!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="c2068a47b63c6e0d092401244a1e2155" Cheers erupted throughout the room as the 5 horsemen walked onto the stage. Merritt walked around the bottom of the stage, "Thank you! Tonight we would like to try something that will, well, set us a bit apart!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="236a95dd14ae8743ea143ddd2c93e7e6" Henley walked down the stairs, "For our final trick, we're going to do something never before seen on a Las Vegas stage!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="6b052d417b912d6c045c0a109515e9f4" Jack walked across the stage, "Or any stage for that matter!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="f2d67ec276980b717626645c41891948" Nikole laughed a bit, "That's right people! Tonight, we will show you something exciting!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="de92167b883efbf1867308f3afc769e6" Danny addressed the crowd last, "Ladies and gentlemen! Tonight! We are going to rob a bank!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="79e5434687fd3931710debe7c96d2a32" The crowd cheered even louder. Nikole threw up her hands and cheered with the crowd, causing them to uproar./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="82c668364f004fa9bf73fd24592f2deb" After a minute, Danny spoke up again, "That's a lot of excitement for a crime!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="7066fdf94d0539c86a5b0b7d12264dc4" Henley smiled, "I'm getting excited! What about you, people?!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="5c3ab890d19a15feee309f048b31a65f" Nikole cringed slightly as the crowd cheered louder, if that was even possible. Jack and Merritt ran across the stage and jumped to high-five each other. Nikole clapped as Jack walked over to her. She placed an arm around his shoulder, "Alright! Who's ready to get started?!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="99d19c1b994860224d085107065dfdc6" Danny held up his hand, "Settle down! Now, who here has a bank they would like us to rob?!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="f6ccd359f0c34dd28a32341eed6c8be4" People raised their hands instantly and Nikole walked around the stage, "Now that's a lot of people with a vendetta."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="f35f2d8de6fe43edc2778e681b044448" Jack, Henley, and Merritt all took a ping pong ball from different baskets. Danny explained, "We'll choose one at random. My associates will make sure it's random."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="8688a3af5cc48f434ccb21294ea5758f" Nikole stuck out her tongue at him. Danny raised a brow, "Real mature Nikki. Really."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="9a9e6b90e69fc53080b07be5582a787c" The crowd members laughed. Danny explained once more, "In Jack's hands are ping pong balls with section numbers. Jack, can you hand me one?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="adf23ca570bc9d532b1645b5f7ff6109" Jack threw the ball at Danny and he caught it before reading it out loud, "Section B. Where is Section B?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="7cee045e7814cd4fe6be6d57e8192e0c" One section of the audience raised their hands./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="3f1be2a9cfc8318cfaa6b80cb0c469f8" "There you are. It's gonna be one of you guys, get ready. I don't know why everybody's happy. It's only them."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="14b4e5d7d5b978519903865379c698c3" Nikole waved him off, "Oh, come on, Danny. Let the excitement flow!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="abbc2536259e585d4b9ab00be9442058" Danny rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah. Merritt, can I get a row, please?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="602d93f377792b2ade6338053e74292e" Merritt threw the ball to him and he read it out, "We are looking at Row number 5. Ok. Now Henley, can I please have a random seat number."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1c5c212681d97b735a9ece6fa458392d" Henley threw him the ball, "Lucky number 13. B-5-13. Sir, please stand up!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="33477a381aac6348ccb278ce0bfb7d0c" The audience member stood up. Danny showed him the balls, "Alright, hi. Can you please confirm for me that B-5-13 is, in fact, your seat number."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="72655029a86d74fec5fa878511407a59" The guy was handed a microphone and he turned to check his seat number, "Yes."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="17a32e92a15786aa9caf6038aea935a2" Danny threw the ping pong balls aside, causing laughter, "Ok. Wonderful. Now, could you please tell us your name and the name of your bank!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="a92452b524dcb9f83c82c293f7c31d88" The man spoke up, "Well, my name is Etienne Forcier, and my bank is, uh, Cred Republicain de Paris."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="b0e4d61e89be718b1b412a18da1e1de2" Nikole's brows rose, "Whoa, that's a mouthful."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="8123f8ebbe6d93ef814579572a548832" Danny chuckled, "Ok. French. We were hoping for something a little more local. A kind of mom-and-pop credit union with no security, but that's fine. A promise is a promise. Could you please come up to the stage and we'll rob your bank."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="18404b408d14417ea0aa706bb0c86212" Everyone clapped as Etienne made his way down to the stage./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="c67258e894f95078acc26786b5d3bcbe" "And while he does that, um, there is someone here tonight, without whom, we would just be five magicians, working the circuit, trying to get, well actually, trying to get here. You probably know this man. If not from one of the many, many companies he puts his name on. He is now our friend. He is our benefactor. Mister Arthur Tressler. Please, stand up Art."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="102c4a44f3118fc6123eea46e9d15873" Everyone clapped and Nikole cupped her hands around her mouth and gave a shout, "Go Art!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="506264f815bb015d333835a289516470" Arthur stood up and Merritt cracked a joke, "The only man with the Queen's cell phone number."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="864f6500b5c87c2c96cf50c91a4a4ce8" Arthur waved to the audience. Danny spoke next, "Actually, please stay standing Art. Um, I wanna say that when we came to Mister Tressler, we promised that as a unit, we could become the biggest name in magic."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="f7c2275ca49191c8725bb10ea5b0d108" Henley walked forward, "So, we wanted to say thank you and, by the way, Art, did you notice on the sign out front? We made sure we put your name on it."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d55ab3f095e69db5b2482dce34d82423" Arthur spoke through a microphone, "If you turn out to be as good as you think you are, dear girl, that won't be necessary much longer."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="da81bd70c89413cad9ec7be6290a0d1e" Henley threw out her hand, "Ladies and gentlemen! Arthur Tressler!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="be30c73bb6dd8cb0c4716cc48460e58e" Danny cut through, "Thank you. And of course, once again, the Cardinal of Clairvoyance, Merritt McKinney."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="f15581c701885546d50dd5fc69d1b77f" Merritt patted Etienne on the back, "Etienne, what Jack is bringing to the stage now is what we in the magic world like to call a Teleportation Helmet. You'll need to wear this as it will allow you to literally fold through space and time, to your bank in the...8th? No, 9th Arrondissement. Now, once you are there, we will be able to speak with you through this helmet. Now, it, oh! Oh my god, that's beautiful! It has the added attraction of being very stylish. It's about time the French learned from America on that subject."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="5af68d68d1a562c6b40ec1c51965b739" Jack turned on the helmet. The crowd applauded and Nikole bowed while walking backwards to stand on the top tier of the stage, "Now then! Etienne, please pick a card from Danny!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="3c302bd0dd15067ed31c6bc23a96ea62" Danny walked up and had Etienne pick a card, playing around with him before doing so, "Alright, now show to your friends in Section B, but not to us."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="71713bbd611b36aa87619befa15a0e3c" The five horsemen all covered their eyes as he did so. Nikole handed Etienne a pen, "Now, please sign your name on the card and put it in your pocket."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="0db11e6356e337c533031aba1d48c9da" Henley cleared the middle of the stage, "And now, for one tiny detail!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d2f64bb2cfccb45bd672437ed55d5727" Henley pulled a black cloth from her shirt and threw it. The cloth danced gracefully across the stage before falling to reveal a 'teleportation machine.' Everyone cheered in awe at Henley's magic. Merritt led Etienne over to the machine, "Now, Etienne, please step into this cockamamie contraption. It's 11:50 PM here in Vegas, so that's 8:50 AM in Paris. Your bank opens in less than 10 minutes."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="5438648f982a73d27f897463642f1037" The horsemen counted down and the machine suddenly squashed together, seeming to crush Etienne completely./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="94a9a539f5cade5812d168fde653855f" "What the hell? It wasn't supposed to happen like that, was it?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="6a56a5e3e33f64f39815d6782e1470ed" "Etienne?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1059b0534421c022e486eafd49ac737c" "I liked that little French guy. Where'd he go?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="ec9686f40b7cec8984968fbc8c29921a" A screen lit up with video feed. It was Etienne./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="4b9467989c0f420519fa7f6606bf1e7f" Danny held up his hands to calm the crowd as they cheered, "No, please. This is Daniel Atlas, can you hear me? Etienne? Are you ok?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="9eedcb29c9405778e0151a8a4efbf5a3" "em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Yes./em"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="946528a3c62f972be818c7dd7d24b182" "Perfect. What do you see in there?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1da96051a38afe47db569b37ec34f42c" "em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Money. Is this real?/em"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="7384e034a526debb87c1330c6a594ca6" "Yes. It looks like 3 million or so euros worth. Now, here's what we need you to do. I want you to take the card that you signed out of your pocket and I want you to take the ticket stub from tonight's show, and I want you to put it right there in the middle of the money."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="e8390d70ee791bc019f11e2a79229182" Etienne followed the instructions./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="09894141b50e16149b81f6cd07046f76" "Now, drop it."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="e1feea45884286fc3ed16a63ce6c97cb" The cards were dropped through a crack between the money./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="0003c89b80c776ad49d7e07bdafc9b4f" "Now, on the side of your helmet, you should feel a button. Don't press it just yet. That button activates an air duct that connects Paris to Las Vegas. Ok, now you can press it."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="7e37511a53b7ea464721dffa12643d3c" Etienne pressed the button and an air duct opened above the money. Jack spoke up, "Alright Etienne, hold on tight! You might feel a bit of a vacuum!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="8ef4edb2a319d152d9f8dc58be2c068e" Merritt and Nikole chuckled at the statement. Through the screen, you could see all of the money being sucked up into the air. Danny held up a hand, "Now, wait a second."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="4b8b2f10ffead25d52f53a343949085c" Everything was quiet. Then money started raining down in the stadium and everyone screamed in happiness. The five horsemen smiled at the scene before taking a final bow, "Thank you ladies and gentlemen! We are the five horsemen and goodnight!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="2d0dfa08957d7fc693dfcd6650710a78" /p 


	4. Chapter 4

The Five Horsemen all sat in their hotel room. Henley and Nikole were upstairs packing their things, Merritt was reading a book on one of the couches, Danny was standing by the window, and Jack was sitting on a chair.

Nikole was folding some of her clothes and placing them neatly into her suitcase when Henley came up beside her, "So...Jack, huh? What's the story?"

Nikole looked at her in confusion, "You already know the story. 1 year ago we all-"

Henley covered her mouth with a hand, "I don't mean that. I mean with the obvious attraction going on between you two."

Nikole ahhed, "Ohhh, that. Yeah, I like him."

Henley was shocked that Nikole admitted it so easily, "Wow. That was easy. Usually, people deny those kinds of things."

Nikole rose a brow and closed her suitcase, "Why should I? I'm not embarrassed to like him. He's nice, funny, talented, not to mention attractive. I shouldn't have to hide it."

The door slammed open, "FBI! Hands in the air!"

Danny raised his hands along with Jack. Merritt continued reading and held up a finger, "Just a second."

"Let's go! Put the book down!"

Merritt rolled his eyes and dropped the book, making peace signs with both hands.

Henley and Nikole started walking down the stairs and were startled by the FBI, "Freeze! Hands in the air!"

Henley smiled with her hands up, "Oh my. Do one of you guys mind giving us a hand with our bags?"

They were all led out of the room and the FBI rolled along their suitcases. The people around them cheered, seemingly ignoring the fact that the horsemen were in handcuffs. Nikole bowed her head slightly to the people, "Hello, Vegas!"

One of the FBI agents shoved her harshly, "Shut up and keep moving."

Nikole's P.O.V

We had all been placed in separate interrogation rooms. To be honest, I was quite bored. I leaned back in my seat and placed my feet on the table, which was hard since my hands were cuffed to the table.

I quickly put them down and sat up when a man and a woman walked into the room. The man had a pissed-off look on his face.

"Let me guess, you talked to Merritt and Daniel?"

The woman sat down with a look of confusion. She spoke with a French accent, "How did you know?"

I laughed, "Are you kidding me? Dumb and Dumber are the most annoying people in the world. Dealing with one is horrible, but dealing with them both is like a one way ticket to hell on the shittiest boat ride you've ever had."

The blonde woman laughed while the man just got angrier, "Shut up with the small talk and give me answers."

I sat back, "Then ask me a question. I'd be happy to answer."

He sighed, "Finally. Now, how did you manage to rob that bank?"

I shrugged, "Technically, _we_ , didn't do anything. If you didn't already know, we were on that stage the whole time. Now, how could we be in two places at once? Hmm? We're magicians not superhumans."

The guy slammed his hands onto the table, "That's bullshit! Tell me how you robbed the bank!"

I flipped out a deck of tarot cards out of thin air. I looked at the woman with a smile, "Do you mind?"

She shook her head and moved her hands off the table, "No, please."

We both ignored the angry male as I spread out the deck on the table.

I smirked, "Now, pick a card. But don't be half-assed about it, choose wisely."

She smiled before looking at the deck for a few minutes until picking a card.

I took it from her and flipped it over, "The Fool. Now, now, don't look so down. I'll interpret. The fool symbolizes new beginnings. It means you are inexperienced, but you have faith in what the future holds. You have an open mind and a lot of potential. This is quite a good card, don't you think?"

It was silent in the room until someone else came in to release me. I stood up and gathered my cards, throwing a smile at the two, "Happy hunting. It was nice to meet you Alma."

Alma looked confused, "I never told you my name."

I smirked, "I'm a magician, remember?"

As soon as I saw the other horsemen, I ran over with a wave, "Hey!"

I gave Jack a high-five, "That was just too good. I bet you had a nice nap."

Jack smirked. Henley looked between the two of us and shook her head, "Come on you two. We have a plane to catch."

I rolled my eyes jokingly, "Yes mother."

 **Arthur's Plane**

I sat across from Jack on the plane playing a game of cards. Jack whispered and pointed over to Art, "Look over there."

I turned my head and casually looked at Art before turning back, "Wow, Conan."

I smiled at Jack with soft eyes, "Hey, do you think we'll still be in touch after all this is over?"

Jack looked shocked for a second before leaning back in his chair, "Yeah, of course."

Jack looked up just as Danny started walking down the aisle, "Oh hey Danny, could I talk to you about my role in the show real quick?"

Danny just patted his face before passing, "Sure."

My eye twitched slightly. 'What an asshole.'

Danny addressed the laughing Merritt and Henley, "Hey guys, we've got a show to prepare for."

Merritt stood up, "Oh, do we now?"

Danny flipped out, walking away, "No, no, no. Don't do that. You're not doing that thing to me. No."

Merritt laughed and I turned to look, "This should be good."

"What thing? I'm just looking at you."

Danny replied frustratedly, "No you're not. I've been watching you for a year, I know all of your little tricks."

Merritt smirked, "Is that what they are to you, tricks?"

"Yeah. It's gimmicks. It's Barnum statements. It's in the eyes and body language. I get it."

Merritt shot back, "If it's such an easy thing, why don't you do Henley?"

Henley smiled smugly, "Yeah Danny, why don't you do me?"  
Danny shook his head, "No you're too easy. I'll do, i'll do Nikki."

I glared at him, "You even think about it and I will bite you."

Art interrupted, "No. Do me."

I pointed back at Art, "Yeah, do Art. He's much more interesting than I am."

I stood up with Jack and the five of us walked over to Arthur.

"But i'll warn you, I can be difficult to read when I wanna be."

Danny looked into his eyes, "Yeah, just uh, stay with me."

I leaned over Jack, placing my elbows on his shoulders, "Good luck, wonder boy."

Jack laughed and fist bumped me, "Nice one."

Danny glared, "Haha, funny. So, Art. You were a tough kid, kind of a real rapscallion. You had a dog, a real tough dog. A brutish breed. I wanna say, Ben the bulldog."

I almost choked on my spit at his observation. 'Oh my god, this is too good. I get that he's doing it on purpose, but still...'

"Actually, I was a prissy little tot, I had a fluffy white cat called Snuffles."

We all laughed and Danny hit the plane, "I'm sorry."

Jack spoke up next, "Let me try one, I can do better than that."

I ruffled his hair, "Yeah, let Jack do one. He can do way better."

Danny quickly started up again, "Ok, let's do family. You had an uncle on your mother's side. He had a real kind of masculine name. A real kind of salt-of-the-earth, you know, a real stick-it-to-you, like it was uh, some kind of Paul Thompson. Was it a Paul? Ok, you know what, I got nothing."

Art looked at him, "Nearly though."

Danny seemed hopeful, "Was I?"

"Yeah, my uncle's name was Cushman Armitage."

Arthur laughed and Danny raised a brow, "Really? Snuffles and Cushman Armitage, that was your childhood?"

"I definitely hope tonight's show is gonna be better than this."

I smiled, sharing a look with the others, "Don't worry Art, it'll be a real money maker."

Nikole's P.O.V.

I was sitting on the couch with Jack, reading a magazine. Suddenly, Merritt plops down next to Henley, "Do me a favor. Visualize your most adventurous sexual experience."

"Stay out of my head, you pervert."

I laughed and threw my magazine at Merritt's head, "Yeah, pervert. Stay out of her head."

Merritt threw the magazine back at me, "Well, if I stay out of your head, i'm never gonna get in your pants. Let's stick with this exercise."

The smile fell from my face when Thaddeus Bradley showed up. 'Great.'

"Pardon the intrusion. I just wanted to wish you good luck tonight."

Jack leaned back, "What, so you can try to expose us later on your little website?"

I crossed my arms.

"And on Demand."

Henley glared at him, "That's not gonna happen."

Thaddeus smirked, "Oh, no? Operating on a special plane because of The Eye. I hear it's a lovely place. Lots of starshine and moonbeams, make any magicians wish come true. You've gone much further than anyone would've expected from a bunch of wanna-be's and has-been's."

Merritt stood up, "Oh, if by has-been, you're referring to me, I just wanted to say i'm flattered because I always considered myself a never-was. Do you mind if I do a quick read on you?"

I leaned forward with a smirk. Thaddeus smiled, "By all means."

Merritt looked at him, "Ok. I'm picturing a little boy who wants to be a great magician someday. Though he's good, he's not quite good enough, so he ends up at the bottom of the entertainment food chain, feeding off of those who have the talent that he never did. Now tell me, am I getting close?"

Thaddeus was silent and I stood up, "I think you hit bullseye with that one Merritt. Wow, never thought that a hot-shot like you would have such a miserable existence."

Thaddeus was about to leave when Danny stood up, "Wait, before you go, i'm just, i'm working on something new. Do you have a second? Ok, uh name a card."

"King of hearts."

Merritt snapped his fingers, "Knew it!"

Danny looked at his deck and snapped his fingers. Nothing happened. He blew on it, still nothing.

Thaddeus smirked, "It's up your left sleeve."

Danny looked in his sleeve, "Is it? No, I don't see it up there. You know what? Why don't you check your unnecessary velveteen pocket right there?"

Thaddeus pulled the card from his pocket and frowned. I laughed, "Suck it."

Danny kept a straight face, "Anyway, thank you so much for coming by, but this is kind of a talent only area, so..."

Thaddeus threw the card, "Break a leg."

Merritt called after him, "Hey, you break something too."


	5. Chapter 5

**Nikole's P.O.V.**

"Ladies and gentlemen! The Sevoy Management welcomes you to tonight's special performance! The Five Horsemen, Act Two! Unlike traditional performances, The Five Horsemen encourage you to film, call your friends, upload it, stream it freely. Thank you. The show will begin in a few minutes."

I straightened out my dress and looked at Jack, "Try not to kill me, alright?"

Jack laughed and slung an arm over my shoulders, "Sure thing Nikki."

Merritt placed a hand on our heads, "Alright you two lovebirds, go get ready."

I flipped him off, "Shut it, old man."

We all stood in our designated spots on the stage with the lights off.

"Arthur Tressler presents, Jack Wilder, Henley Reeves, Merritt McKinney, Nikole Rivera, and Daniel Atlas! The Five Horsemen!"  
I waved to the audience and bowed. Danny smiled, "Thank you. Before we begin, We'd like to single out two people in particular. A man and a woman to whom we'd like to dedicate tonight's show to."

Henley called out their names, "FBI Agent Dylan Rhodes and the lovely, if somewhat inexperienced, Interpol Agent Alma Dray."

A spotlight was cast on them and everyone booed. Jack spoke up, "Yeah, Agent Rhodes has personally vowed to, quote, nail us."

"And we encourage him to do so, if he has the brains and the fur."

I waved my hand towards them, "Yes, please do. Also, enjoy the show you two. I'm sure it will be very...enlightening."

Danny questioned the audience, "What is magic? Our argument, nothing but targeted deception. So I want you to look, look as closely as possible. Because the tricks you are about to see, may not seem connected, but we assure you, they are. Is what follows 100 different tricks? Or is it one, giant illusion?"

 **Daniel and Henley**

Henley walked out onto the stage with a rabbit in her hands, "And now, for one of the oldest tricks in the book. Danny, if you wouldn't mind opening up the box and showing everyone that it's completely empty. I'm gonna take sweet little Fluffy here and put her inside this mystery box."

Danny closed the box and motioned to Henley, "And now, you will say the magic word."

"Abracadabra."

Danny took out a plastic wand, "Yes, and I will wave this magic wand for no reason."

He threw it behind him, "And then, Fluffy has magically vanished before your very eyes."

Henley placed her hands behind her back, "And now we're going to debunk a few magic myths this evening. We all know that Fluffy is in fact alive and well. And Fluffy has miraculously appeared."

Henley took Fluffy out of the box while Danny continued to explain, "As has the mirror that only makes the box appear as though it's empty."

A few people came out to take the box away.

Henley walked around the stage, holding Fluffy, "Now we've all heard of pulling the rabbit out of the hat, but has anyone heard of pulling a hat out of a rabbit?"

Henley pushed Fluffy forward and the rabbit turned into a hat.

 **Merritt**

"Now we're gonna need 12 courageous volunteers."

Hands shot into the air as soon as the sentence was finished. Merritt pointed out 12 random volunteers and had them line up on the stage.

"Now if you haven't experienced mass hypnosis, you're about to. And, sleep!"

Merritt passed by every volunteer, lightly tapping them to make them 'sleep.'

Once he finished, he began giving out the commands, "When you hear the word 'Freeze', you are all football players. And your job is to tackle, dismantle, crush, tear limb-from-limb, the quarterback. You will know who the quarterback is. He will be the one saying that word."

Merritt awoke the hypnotized volunteers and had them stand in a circle, "Put your hands in the middle! One! Two! Three! Kill the quarterback!"

"Alright, go on back to your seats! I have a feeling i'm gonna be seeing you soon!"

 **Jack**

"There are two pencils out there. Hold them up high. Let me see them."

Two ladies stood up, holding the pencils in the air. Jack shuffled a card deck and quickly explained what he would be doing.

With the two ladies still standing, he counted down with the audience, "3! 2! 1!"

He threw cards into the audience, one of them was stuck straight on the pencil and the other was cut straight in half.

 **-**

 **Jack and Nikole**

Nikole stood in front of the audience with Jack, showing them a small bed of spikes, "Ok, I hope you understand that you should never, ever, attempt this at home!"

The crowd laughed a bit.

Nikole motioned to Jack, "Now, Jack here, will be my assistant for this trick. He's going to gently balance me on top of the tallest spike right there and with a snap of his fingers, I will be stabbed straight in the stomach. Don't be worried, now, because afterwards, I will escape with no scratches."

Nikole stood behind the spikes and Jack lifted her up and placed her on top of the tallest spike. Nikole smiled at the crowd as she remained fully balanced on top of the deadly weapon. Jack quickly snapped his fingers and Nikole lurched downwards, the spike sticking straight through the center of her stomach. Screams were heard throughout the audience until Jack picked her up off the spike and she revealed her unscathed body.

The audience cheered and the two bowed.

 **Danny**

Danny began showing the crowd how he made large bubbles with only his hands. Henley walked onto the stage a moment later and just as the bubble was thrown into the air, Henley jumped into it. She was suspended in air, trapped inside the bubble. She did numerous flips and tricks before the bubble suddenly popped and she came crashing down into Danny's arms.

The audience members stood up and clapped, cheering wildly.

Merritt walked up onto the stage to make an announcement to the audience, "At the intermission, we encouraged you to write down your current bank balance, seal it in an envelope, now it's time to take those envelopes out. Everyone take them out."

Everyone in the audience pulled out their envelopes.

"Now, everybody shout out your name all at once. Go!"

The room became almost unbearably loud as the audience members screamed out their names.

Merritt held up a hand, "Hold up. Clemmens?! Frannick?!"

A man in a higher row stood up, "Yeah! Right here!"

"Ok. Dina? Robertson?"

The woman stood up with an excited face, "That's me!"

"Ok. Names!"

More screams rang out until Merritt once again stopped them, "Josepha?! Hickey?!"

Another lady stood up, "That's me!"

Merritt pointed at her, "Josepha, I want you to focus on your balance and count from one to ten out loud."

Josepha looked confused, but followed through with the request, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5-"

"Stop. Is the first digit 5?"

Josepha nodded, "Yes."

Merritt made a motion with his hand, "Do it again. This time, faster."

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6-"

"Stop! 6. Again."

"1, 2-"

Merritt interrupted, "Josepha, is your bank balance $562 as of today?"

Josepha confirmed it with a bit of sadness, "Yeah. That's what I got."

Merritt shook his head, "Unfortunately, you're wrong. Ok. Dina. Umm, 1-4-7-7."

Dina nodded, "Yeah."

"You too, are wrong. Uh, Clemmens. You do not have $6500 in your account. In fact, everybody stand up. Put your envelopes to your forehead and focus on your number. Oh. This is- oh dear, just as I feared. This is strange. I hate to say this, but you're all wrong. Every last one of you is dead wrong."

Nikole, Danny, and Henley walked out onto the stage. Danny put a hand on Merritt's shoulder and whispered into his ear.

Merritt clapped his hands together, "Ok, you can sit down. Oh, yeah! I almost forgot. This evening would not be possible, if it weren't for our great benefactor, Arthur Tressler."

Danny clapped his hands, "Big applause! Actually Art, can you come up on stage?"

Nikole applauded, "Come on, Art!"

Henley led Art to the center of the stage, "Now, Art, did you fill out your envelope? Well, no need. We've done it for you."

Jack appeared with a large envelope in his hands. Merritt walked up to Art, "Now Art, I took a guess. North of 140, am I right?"

Art laughed a bit as Merritt continued while Henley helped Danny to take the paper out of the envelope, "That's 140 million, by the way."

Henley held up the card, "Oh, i'm sorry Merritt. How can he be right about his balance and everyone else be wrong?"

"I think possibly because he too, is wrong. Now everybody take out your paper and using the flashlight under your seats, start to warm up that paper. Your correct balance will begin to appear. Art, don't worry, we have a flashlight for you."

Nikole jogged over to Jack and helped him bring the gigantic flashlight onto the stage before turning it on. As the light warmed up the paper, Art's balance dropped by $70,000.

Danny faked surprise, "This is weird! A second ago, it said $144,579,651. But now, it says $70,000 less."

Merritt pointed out to Josepha, "Now Josepha, can you stand up? What is your new number?"

Josepha blurted it out happily, "$70,562 now on my account."

Henley speculated, "Is it possible that Josepha's balance went up the exact amount that Art's went down?"

Jack smirked, "Oh hey, check it out! It's happening again."

Danny looked at the paper, "Is it?"

Henley looked amazed, "Wow! It is! Art's balance has gone down another 280k!"

"Dina Robertson, what does yours say?"

Dina stood up, "$281,477"

Jack and Nikole set the flashlight down and Danny dropped the paper. Henley spoke seriously, "We have a confession to make."

Jack nodded in agreement, "She's right. We lied about something."

Danny looked at the audience, "Yes, none of you were chosen at random."

Nikole locked her hands together, "Yes, all of you happened to have one thing in common with each other."

"Everyone in this room was a victim of the hard times that hit one of America's most treasured cities."

"Some of you lost your houses. Your cars."

"Your businesses."

"Your loved ones, but all of you were insured by the same company."

The Five Horsemen all pointed at Art, "Tressler insurance!"

"You were abandoned!"

"You were loopholed!"

"Out of your settlements!"

Art walked over to Henley and Nikole, "This is all for show, correct?"

Nikole smirked and crossed her arms, "Oh, if you mean that we're doing it on stage in front of a paying audience, then yes, it's for show."

Everyone's cellphone in the audience began ringing to reveal their new bank balances. Art pointed at Merritt angrily, "Did you do this?!"  
Jack began walking past him, "How could we Art? We don't have your password."

Henley walked over to him next, "We'd need access to information we could never get our hands on."

Nikole waved goodbye and walked to stand next to Henley as Danny finished it off, "Yes, security questions. For instance, your mother's maiden name, or the name of your first pet."

Art lunged after us, but noticed that his leg was cuffed down. The Five Horsemen all stood at the back of the stage, watching the FBI scramble. Dylan began running up the aisles, "Stop! Nobody move! Freeze!"

Nikole covered her eyes, "Oooh, shouldn't have done that."

The hypnotized audience members ran up and tackled Dylan as the Five Horsemen were taken up by ropes.

 **Nikole's P.O.V.**

I bounded down the stairs of the fire escape, splitting up from the others almost immediately. 'Alright Nikki, let's try not to get got. If you do, don't talk.'

I turned the corner and noticed all of the Mardi Gras traffic in the streets. A smirk fell onto my face and I ran straight into the crowd. With a snap of my fingers, my disguise fell into place. I adjusted my wig and acted accordingly. Turning slightly, I saw FBI agents swarming around, looking for the Five Horsemen. 'Alright, all I have to do is make sure that the FBI doesn't catch our scent too early, and then, I head back to the hotel.'

I let out a nervous sigh and muttered to myself, "Easier said than done."

I prepared my fake accent and walked up to one of the agents, "Excuse me, what's going on here?"

The agent looked flustered by my sudden appearance, "Nothing to be worried about ma'am."

I stepped to the side just as he did, "I have a daughter at home, should I be worried? What is this about?"

The agent placed his hands on my shoulders, "Everything will be fine ma'am. Just go home to your daughter."

I nodded and hid a smirk as he ran past. 'Done, and done.'


End file.
